NFL legend Terry Bradshaw, 77, shares health update after sparking panic with absence from Fox broadcast

Terry Bradshaw was missing from Fox's NFL coverage on Sunday after being sent home the set. 

The former quarterback, 77, did not feature on Week 11's Fox NFL Sunday, leaving Curt Menefee, Howie Long, and Michael Strahan to anchor the popular pregame program. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers legend's absence came amid multiple calls for him to retire after he sparked concerns with his appearance on previous shows. 

Many fans were left questioning where Bradshaw was and the reasoning behind his absence as they expressed fears over his health.

The analyst finally quelled their fears as he took to social media to reveal the reason behind his mystery leave. 

'Just in case you notice, won't be on Fox today. Just have a cold. All good,' Bradshaw penned against a colorful background in an Instagram post. 

His Fox colleagues also addressed his absence during the show with host Menefee saying: 'Terry Bradshaw is not with us. He came to work sick this morning so decided to go home.'

However, Strahan laughed before disputing that version of events.

'He decided to go home? We sent him home,' the New York Giants icon added.

Bradshaw has been a mainstay on Fox's NFL programming for over 30 years. After retiring from football in 1984, Bradshaw quickly joined CBS as a game analyst before jumping ship to Fox ten years later. 

However, Bradshaw has sparked fears in recent years with his appearances on the show with many fans urging him to call time on his broadcasting career. 

Most recently, he produced a bizarre story that left his Fox colleagues stunned during their broadcast last month.

Bradshaw claimed that he had been in contact with Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

However, that wasn't actually the case. Bradshaw said: ' The other day, I text Andy Reid and I get a text back. I thought it was Andy Reid but it was some guy selling pigs.

'I shouldn't have told y'all that, so that you thought that I actually talked to Andy Reid'.

It's fair to say that the story left Fox's other analysts confused and Michael Strahan was visibly stunned by the bizarre tangent that Bradshaw went on.

The incident quickly went viral on social media, with NFL fans calling on Bradshaw to retire following the latest of his worrying gaffes.

It served as the latest embarrassment for Bradshaw, following his failure to pronounce a star running back's name during a recent Fox broadcast.

Bradshaw was tasked with providing a scoring update in the Bears' contest against the New Orleans Saints when the blunder occurred.

The Hall-of-Famer referred to Swift as 'Deonday... DeAndre Smith' before one of his colleagues corrected him. Bradshaw did eventually get Swift's name right.

While Swift's name is not the easiest to pronounce, fans were still ruthless in their assessment of Bradshaw's effort and compared him to former President Joe Biden .